The Empires Rise

In what feels like a short amount of time, everyone going to the auction has gathered together, and there is a small pile of items on the meeting room table in front of me. The items range from simple potions that restore only one or two HP, essential tools from blacksmiths, simple leather pieces from leather workers, and other minor items.

From what I can see, there aren't any enchanted items due to the lack of materials to practice with, or we are holding onto those items for our purposes. At this point, I don't have much time to think about it as we are stuffing whatever we can into my storage bag.

As the timer for the invitation reaches the last couple of seconds, I remember to grab all of the money. Thankfully, it doesn't take up any space and becomes weightless upon entering my pouch. Breathing a sigh of relief, the card finishes its countdown.

We waited 30 seconds before someone asked if I had used the item. Smacking myself for my foolishness, I quickly used it.

- Would you like to enter the auction house? Yes/No -

I select yes.

- Please choose two companions to join you for the auction. -

Seeing this notification, I mentally select Eleanor and Narus. With a flash, we are teleported out of the meeting hall into a vast room filled with many creatures and people. Since I am the only one standing with my mouth agape at everything, from the audacious gold and red walls to the soft feel of the red carpet underfoot, it reminds me of an old theatre from when I was younger and my parents brought me to an opera. The only difference is how crowded the room feels with all the large races in one room.

After being jolted for a couple of minutes, Eleanor and Narus can finally lead us to the edge of the room, where we catch our breath.

"This is quite the crowd," Eleanor starts.

"I haven't seen this many people in one space in my entire life, and I hope we can find our seats easily," Narus adds.

Looking up at her, I ask, "Have you not been to an auction before?"

"I have; it was long ago, before the outbreak in my world. We haven't been able to host anything of its nature since then. And even when we did hold them, there weren't as many people. Not at least in a small room like this," she answers.

Eleanor nods with what she says, "Do we know where we will be seated during the auction? I hope it isn't on the ground floor. Dreadful of someone of my status to be seated down there."

Taking a look at the ticket, I noticed that the text on it changed upon our entering.

- Due to your status as a Lord, you will be provided with a small box on the second floor of the buildings. You can teleport to the box with your companions whenever you wish, and an attendant will help you answer any questions that you might have.

Would you like to teleport to your box? Yes/No -

After telling Narus and Eleanor about the ticket change, I asked if we should go to the box. That is before I hear an ear-piercing scream from across the room, and suddenly, as if by magic, a path has formed between myself and one of the people I would have most liked to have avoided.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU NO GOOD SON OF A WRECH!"

Curious about who could be treating me with such disregard, Eleanor turns around and sees a woman. She stands about 1.75 meters tall, is well-kept, and has a slightly curvy figure. This woman is the previous wife of my father, though I wouldn't ever acknowledge her as someone my father could be interested in with her sharp tongue and waspish personality.

Following along with Eleanor, I turn to face her. "And what do you want?" I ask with as much venom and vitriol as I can manage without seeming to stoop too far to her level. Seeing her also puts a different thought into my mind. What if others like her are here? Can multiple people be summoned from the same worlds? Should I be concerned about trying to summon more people as quickly as possible to prevent her from getting more for herself? At least from my world?

She sneers down at me, her eyes spitting fire, "That is what I should be asking you, you spawn of a demon."

Hearing her call my mother a demon infuriates me, "What did you just call my mother?" I asked with rage bubbling up from deep inside of me.

"You heard me, demon spawn. Oh wait, that's right, you don't know about bloodlines and awakening to know that your mother is a demon, both literally and figuratively. What right does a demon have to covet a phoenix's conquests?" Hearing her further bad mouth, my mother, and now treating my father like an object to greed over, further pushes me to the edge.

"You, who are worthless, an unawakened brat that can't even live without needing constant support from my phoenix lines medical knowledge," she continues, now standing proudly in front of me. I can feel my muscles tightening, and slowly, my hands curl into claws.

"Who do you think had to beg me to provide my healing every time you had to have one of your precious surgeries to fix that defective heart of yours?" She starts to ask while slowly leaning over me, "Who do you think came begging me, pleading, crawling just for one more of my phoenix feathers? I enjoyed stepping on her head; those horns turned down to the ground as she prostrated before me. I couldn't forgive her, so I never fully healed you so that she would have to come back and prostrate over and over again."

My blood starts to heat up to the point of bursting hearing all of this. There is sadness in my heart from hearing all the shame my mother had to go through to heal me after every surgery, but knowing that it wasn't a complete healing finally pushed me over the edge. The pain of having my own heart fight against me for years, the suffering of having to have my body cut open multiple times just not to get appropriately healed. It enraged me.

The feeling of something trying to push through my skin right above my hands goes unnoticed as I fully clench my fists. "What are you going to do? I am a mighty phoenix, capable of giving and taking life."

With as much willpower as I can muster, I ask one final question, "Why?"

"Because," she looks down at me, sneering further. "Only I deserve him. Only I can give him what he wants," and with a feral smile, leaning ever closer. "Only I can give him the life that he has longed for, of a child capable of being a guardian of our world. At least that was before, now maybe not just a guardian, but even rulers of this world, and many more."

With that last comment, I brought my fist up and swung with all of my might at her head, which was too close for her to dodge, only to be stopped by Narus holding my arm back at the last moment. Stepping between us, Eleanor introduces herself, "Good day, I am Eleanor, and who might you be?" The hypnotic-predatory look in her eyes is fixated on the woman.

Losing her balance from the close call of being punched in the face by me, she looks up at Eleanor. "My name is Gwinlana. And what right do you have to interrupt me from teaching this brat a lesson?"

"Oh, I have the right as an ambassador from one of the worlds he has managed to get on his good side. And what might I ask you, gave you the confidence to do as you are?"

Scoffing at the mention of being an ambassador to me, she tilts her head and points to a large man with bulging muscles and a scar running down one side of his face on the other side of the room. "He is my confidence. He has promised that if I help him, he will help me get what my heart desires."

"Well, since this is an auction, why don't we speak with our funds instead of our fists?" Eleanor suggests.

Intrigued by the idea, Gwilana seems to have stopped one train of thought and landed on another: "And how would you have us compete?"

"There are a couple of options; we can go based on the number of items we acquire, the cost, or their rarity. We don't mind even doing a best of three where the winner of two categories will forfeit any items they won to the loser. What do you say?"

Hearing the terms of the competition and what the loss would be, she looks at me with disdain. "And what makes you think you even have the funds to compete with us?"

Eleanor looks at me, and I nod along with her words while still seething in anger. "Showing you our hand would be a poor choice. What if we add one more stipulation? PUN runs this world, so why don't we initiate a system contract that will be the neutral third party to our wager? It can be used to check if we are on a footing that would make it worth the wager for you."

Hearing this one last stipulation added, Gwilana turns to the man. Seeing him nod, she agrees with Eleanor's recommendation. "Then we will do as you say. I don't mind getting items for free from this brat."

After she had agreed, two notifications appeared before me.

- You are about to initiate a system contract for a wager. The wager is as follows:

The winner of two of the three categories, amount of items, item cost, and item quality, will receive the loser's items.

The system will verify that the party led by Drake has the funds to make it worth the opposing party, Throsdurgrash, to initiate this wager.

The count of items will start at the end of the auction. Neither side will know who has the most.

Do you agree with the terms of this wager and acknowledge the consequences of losing? Yes/No -

- Personal Quest:

Petty Gives, and Petty Receives

The woman who wed your father initially appears before you. She does not know that you have been reunited with the rest of your family. To show her that you are to be feared, beat her at her own game.

Tasks:

Beat Gwilana and her backer in the auction: 0/1

Find where Gwilana and her backer are located and conquer their settlement: 0/1

Reward:

??

Failure:

?? -

Acknowledging the wager, Throsdurgrash nods and looks at me before slightly rubbing his hands together. Still seething with rage, I get out, "Let's go. We have an auction to get to."

Using the invitation again, the three of us teleport up to the box waiting for us.